And some quickies.
Mostly Melbourne theatre reviews
31 January 2013
30 January 2013
Why are mummy bloggers special?
This morning, I had a fight with a dictionary on Twitter.
I love dictionaries and as an editor and writer, The Macquarie is my standard reference because it defines Australian language and incorporates new language quickly.
The annual Macquarie Word of Year survey is asking readers to vote for their favourite new words from 2012. Since 2006, this wonderful competition has made words like flashpacker, bromance and tweet acceptable in Scrabble.
"Mummy blogger" is on this year's list.
Really?
I thought we were over defining profession/job/hobby/interests by our gender or reproductive choices?
So, I asked @MacqDictionary what we call bloggers who aren't mummies.
The big dict answered: "Bloggers. Or if blogger is blogging about a specific subject then can incl the subject eg celeblogger, wine blogger, etc"
Firstly, how many grammar problems are in that tweet? If you tweet on behalf of our national dictionary, get someone to proofread everything you publish. (I'm a freelancer and will do it for a reasonable fee.)
But, back to the issue, Macquarie says that anyone who isn't a woman writing about her life with her children is a "blogger" and that adding an adjective is optional. So why are mummy bloggers so special?
I put mummy blogger with the likes of lady doctor, male nurse, chick lit, women's tennis and actress (yes, I need a whole post on this one); the gender definition acts to belittle.
Mummy blogger came into our vernacular over the last couple of years and is mostly used with quotation marks to be extra condescending and to ensure that "mummy bloggers" aren't confused with serious or real bloggers.
I dare anyone to argue that blogs about the experience of being a parent are not series or real. Or funny or terrific reads for non-mummmies. And what do we call sites like mamamia.com.au, which started as a mere "mummy blog" and is now one of the most-read online magazines with writers and readers who aren't mummies?
@MacqDictionary also got back to me following a contributing tweet about reporting common usage with: "As a dictionary, we remain unbiased in reporting of language and its use. Common usage is king (or queen)!"
Because a discussion about gendered language is always made more funny by joking about gendered language. How about "Common usage rules"?
But if this were just a simple reporting of common usage, where's food blogger or travel blogger? I'd bet that there are more jokes made about food blogs than mummy blogs.
The common usage of "mummy blogger" is generally offensive and used to undermine the blogger.
According to Macquarie's Dictionary's Facebook page, the dictionary agrees by discussing how when women writers were invited "to have morning tea with Julia Gillard in 2012" it "emerged that not everyone is happy with the label 'mummy blogger' which to some seems to be a bit of a put-down."
So the unbiased dictionary appreciates and understands how even ladies having scones with our lady PM don't dig the term. And I'm pretty sure that a group of non-female writers would have been "invited to meet with the Prime Minister", even if they did have mini-muffins and tea in delicate cups.
I'm with those writers who don't appreciate the put-down. Mummy blogger is commonly used to undermine and separate "mummies" and women from other writers and I'm not happy seeing it in a new word survey by our national dictionary.
Sadly, voting for Word of Year 2012 closes on Friday 1 February, so there isn't really any time to fight to get it removed from the list, but I'm not voting at all this year and I hope that when the results are announced on 6 February that "mummy blogger" loses so badly that it becomes one of those terms that's forgotten as quickly as it developed.
I love dictionaries and as an editor and writer, The Macquarie is my standard reference because it defines Australian language and incorporates new language quickly.
The annual Macquarie Word of Year survey is asking readers to vote for their favourite new words from 2012. Since 2006, this wonderful competition has made words like flashpacker, bromance and tweet acceptable in Scrabble.
"Mummy blogger" is on this year's list.
Really?
I thought we were over defining profession/job/hobby/interests by our gender or reproductive choices?
So, I asked @MacqDictionary what we call bloggers who aren't mummies.
The big dict answered: "Bloggers. Or if blogger is blogging about a specific subject then can incl the subject eg celeblogger, wine blogger, etc"
Firstly, how many grammar problems are in that tweet? If you tweet on behalf of our national dictionary, get someone to proofread everything you publish. (I'm a freelancer and will do it for a reasonable fee.)
But, back to the issue, Macquarie says that anyone who isn't a woman writing about her life with her children is a "blogger" and that adding an adjective is optional. So why are mummy bloggers so special?
I put mummy blogger with the likes of lady doctor, male nurse, chick lit, women's tennis and actress (yes, I need a whole post on this one); the gender definition acts to belittle.
Mummy blogger came into our vernacular over the last couple of years and is mostly used with quotation marks to be extra condescending and to ensure that "mummy bloggers" aren't confused with serious or real bloggers.
I dare anyone to argue that blogs about the experience of being a parent are not series or real. Or funny or terrific reads for non-mummmies. And what do we call sites like mamamia.com.au, which started as a mere "mummy blog" and is now one of the most-read online magazines with writers and readers who aren't mummies?
@MacqDictionary also got back to me following a contributing tweet about reporting common usage with: "As a dictionary, we remain unbiased in reporting of language and its use. Common usage is king (or queen)!"
Because a discussion about gendered language is always made more funny by joking about gendered language. How about "Common usage rules"?
But if this were just a simple reporting of common usage, where's food blogger or travel blogger? I'd bet that there are more jokes made about food blogs than mummy blogs.
The common usage of "mummy blogger" is generally offensive and used to undermine the blogger.
According to Macquarie's Dictionary's Facebook page, the dictionary agrees by discussing how when women writers were invited "to have morning tea with Julia Gillard in 2012" it "emerged that not everyone is happy with the label 'mummy blogger' which to some seems to be a bit of a put-down."
So the unbiased dictionary appreciates and understands how even ladies having scones with our lady PM don't dig the term. And I'm pretty sure that a group of non-female writers would have been "invited to meet with the Prime Minister", even if they did have mini-muffins and tea in delicate cups.
I'm with those writers who don't appreciate the put-down. Mummy blogger is commonly used to undermine and separate "mummies" and women from other writers and I'm not happy seeing it in a new word survey by our national dictionary.
Sadly, voting for Word of Year 2012 closes on Friday 1 February, so there isn't really any time to fight to get it removed from the list, but I'm not voting at all this year and I hope that when the results are announced on 6 February that "mummy blogger" loses so badly that it becomes one of those terms that's forgotten as quickly as it developed.
28 January 2013
Chat: Margie Fischer, Theatre Works
The Dead Ones
Theatre Works final show for Midsumma is Margie Fischer’s most recent work, The Dead Ones, and it opens tonight.
Margie is a writer and performer who founded Feast, Adelaide’s Queer Festival, and describes describes herself as a very funny Jewish lesbian. This show’s about what happened when everyone in her family died and she was left to clear out their house.
It was first produced by Adelaide’s wonderful Vitalstatistix, who have been creating and supporting feminist and gender aware theatre and art since 1984, when they formed as Australia’s only full-time women’s theatre company, and continue to produce new Australian performance and live art that’s provocative, distinctive and informed.
Describe you show in three words.
A must see.
Why shouldn’t anyone miss your show?
Because the subject matter and experiences explored in this show haven’t been seen before
Will anyone hate it?
Yes, anyone who thought they were coming to see naked burlesque, circus or stand up comedy. But then they won’t have read the publicity.
What other Midsumma show(s) will you NOT miss?
All the other shows at Theatre Works!
Bent Burlesque, Finucaine and Smith’s Caravan Burlesque, Between The Cracks, Gaybies, Monologues of a Deaf Woman.
Midsumma is 25 this year. What do you remember most about being 25?
Being under confident in all I did.
Midsumma is also about celebrating queer culture. What does your show celebrate?
It celebrates my family’s extraordinary stories though my Jewish lesbian heart and mind.
As The Dead Ones is about clearing your family house, what is something you’d like to leave behind?
My tendency to be anxious, I used to call it neurotic until my psychiatrist said it was anxiety.
What is something we should make sure that we never leave behind?
A sense of humour, the ability to embrace difference and fight against injustice.
Apart from the Midsumma, what festival would you love to be a part of?
Well, I have long been part of the Feast Festival so I already have loved being part of this brilliant queer Festival.
I would love my show to be part of the Sydney Festival. I grew up in Sydney so being part of this big mainstream shebang would be excellent. The Opera House is my preferred venue.
What was the first festival you were a part of?
The Surry Hills Community Festival in Sydney in the 70s, the first one which I was part of initiating.
What else are you looking forward to doing on your trip to Melbourne?
Going to Acland Street, going to Hares and Hyenas, having a sea bath, meeting lots of Jews, lesbians and other queer people who come to my show, working with my fabulous director Catherine Fitzgerald, perfoming at Theatre Works.
If you could invite anyone to see your show (and you know they would come), who would it be?
The entire Jewish population of Melbourne – that’s a lot of people!! The entire theatre going lesbian population of Melbourne, and everyone else who goes to theatre in Melbourne.
If you mean one person, then whoever would pick up my show for the Sydney Festival.
What is the best theatre advice you’ve received?
Keep going.
What’s the worst and/or best thing a reviewer has said about you or your show?
The best thing is the review I got for The Dead Ones in The Australian which said: “Fischer’s signature, right back to the early days of her theatre company Vitalstatistix, has always been sharp and zany – perceptive, full of feeling, but finding a lightness to express the darkness, stealing a wry smile from adversity.”
What’s your favourite gelati flavour?
Blood orange.
What was the last film you loved?
Oedipus Wrecks by Woody Allen. It is a short film I saw last night on DVD and it made me laugh a lot.
What’s the best thing to do when it’s over 40° and you don’t have air conditioning?
Find somewhere that has air conditioning
What work changed how you make theatre? Why?
Yiddish comedy CDs. Why because I realised what I spoke at home was Yiddish, that it was funny, and I was funny in the way Yiddish comedy is funny.
What director/actor/writer/creator would you just die to work with?
I am working on The Dead Ones with the director I always wanted to work with: Catherine Fitzgerald. I would also love to work again with Rosalba Clemente, who directed my show The Gay Divorcee.
What do love most about your show?
The beautiful projected images that go with the text throughout the show.
This was on AussieTheatre.com
Theatre Works
29 January – 3 February
Margie is a writer and performer who founded Feast, Adelaide’s Queer Festival, and describes describes herself as a very funny Jewish lesbian. This show’s about what happened when everyone in her family died and she was left to clear out their house.
It was first produced by Adelaide’s wonderful Vitalstatistix, who have been creating and supporting feminist and gender aware theatre and art since 1984, when they formed as Australia’s only full-time women’s theatre company, and continue to produce new Australian performance and live art that’s provocative, distinctive and informed.
Describe you show in three words.
A must see.
Why shouldn’t anyone miss your show?
Because the subject matter and experiences explored in this show haven’t been seen before
Will anyone hate it?
Yes, anyone who thought they were coming to see naked burlesque, circus or stand up comedy. But then they won’t have read the publicity.
What other Midsumma show(s) will you NOT miss?
All the other shows at Theatre Works!
Bent Burlesque, Finucaine and Smith’s Caravan Burlesque, Between The Cracks, Gaybies, Monologues of a Deaf Woman.
Midsumma is 25 this year. What do you remember most about being 25?
Being under confident in all I did.
Midsumma is also about celebrating queer culture. What does your show celebrate?
It celebrates my family’s extraordinary stories though my Jewish lesbian heart and mind.
As The Dead Ones is about clearing your family house, what is something you’d like to leave behind?
My tendency to be anxious, I used to call it neurotic until my psychiatrist said it was anxiety.
What is something we should make sure that we never leave behind?
A sense of humour, the ability to embrace difference and fight against injustice.
Apart from the Midsumma, what festival would you love to be a part of?
Well, I have long been part of the Feast Festival so I already have loved being part of this brilliant queer Festival.
I would love my show to be part of the Sydney Festival. I grew up in Sydney so being part of this big mainstream shebang would be excellent. The Opera House is my preferred venue.
What was the first festival you were a part of?
The Surry Hills Community Festival in Sydney in the 70s, the first one which I was part of initiating.
What else are you looking forward to doing on your trip to Melbourne?
Going to Acland Street, going to Hares and Hyenas, having a sea bath, meeting lots of Jews, lesbians and other queer people who come to my show, working with my fabulous director Catherine Fitzgerald, perfoming at Theatre Works.
If you could invite anyone to see your show (and you know they would come), who would it be?
The entire Jewish population of Melbourne – that’s a lot of people!! The entire theatre going lesbian population of Melbourne, and everyone else who goes to theatre in Melbourne.
If you mean one person, then whoever would pick up my show for the Sydney Festival.
What is the best theatre advice you’ve received?
Keep going.
What’s the worst and/or best thing a reviewer has said about you or your show?
The best thing is the review I got for The Dead Ones in The Australian which said: “Fischer’s signature, right back to the early days of her theatre company Vitalstatistix, has always been sharp and zany – perceptive, full of feeling, but finding a lightness to express the darkness, stealing a wry smile from adversity.”
What’s your favourite gelati flavour?
Blood orange.
What was the last film you loved?
Oedipus Wrecks by Woody Allen. It is a short film I saw last night on DVD and it made me laugh a lot.
What’s the best thing to do when it’s over 40° and you don’t have air conditioning?
Find somewhere that has air conditioning
What work changed how you make theatre? Why?
Yiddish comedy CDs. Why because I realised what I spoke at home was Yiddish, that it was funny, and I was funny in the way Yiddish comedy is funny.
What director/actor/writer/creator would you just die to work with?
I am working on The Dead Ones with the director I always wanted to work with: Catherine Fitzgerald. I would also love to work again with Rosalba Clemente, who directed my show The Gay Divorcee.
What do love most about your show?
The beautiful projected images that go with the text throughout the show.
This was on AussieTheatre.com
27 January 2013
Chatting update
A popular read on AT is the A quick what with mini-interview.
But those bloody interwebs gremlins can make things disappear or hard to find, so here are some from the last couple of years. (If I've missed yours, let me know. It's not personal, it's brain slush.)
And yell out if want to do one.
The Suitcase Royale: Zombatland at Arts House
Jeremy Davies: From The Ground Up by Circus Oz
Bec Matthews: From The Ground Up by Circus Oz
Stevee Mills: From The Ground Up by Circus Oz
Luke Taylor: From The Ground Up by Circus Oz
Ania Reynolds: From The Ground Up by Circus Oz
Dale Woodbridge: From The Ground Up by Circus Oz
Fiona Macleod, Almost With You at La Mama
Xavier O’Shannessy, UnAustralia at La Mama
Ben Grant, The Shrink and Swell of Knots at La Mama
Shannon Woollard, Death of a Comedian at La Mama
Xavier Bouvier (Okidok), Slips Inside for Melbourne Festival
Young Jean Lee, We’re Gonna Die for Melbourne Festival
Daniel Crisp (Circa), Wunderacts for Melbourne Festival
Melissa Fergusson, PlaySix
Bridgette Burton, Play Six
Stephen House, Johannes Scherpenhuizen and Sarah Hamilton, 2011 Melbourne Fringe
Jonno Katz and Mel Dodge, 2011 Melbourne Fringe
Timothy Clark, Bron Battern, Ash Flanders and Kate McLennan, 2011 Melbourne Fringe
Miles O'Neil, Miranda Hill, Jennifer Williams and Robert Lloyd, 2011 Melbourne Fringe
Anna Lumb, Dan Kilby, Spencer Gignall and the Wau Wau Sisters, 2011 Melbourne Fringe
But those bloody interwebs gremlins can make things disappear or hard to find, so here are some from the last couple of years. (If I've missed yours, let me know. It's not personal, it's brain slush.)
And yell out if want to do one.
The Suitcase Royale: Zombatland at Arts House
Jeremy Davies: From The Ground Up by Circus Oz
Bec Matthews: From The Ground Up by Circus Oz
Stevee Mills: From The Ground Up by Circus Oz
Luke Taylor: From The Ground Up by Circus Oz
Ania Reynolds: From The Ground Up by Circus Oz
Dale Woodbridge: From The Ground Up by Circus Oz
Fiona Macleod, Almost With You at La Mama
Xavier O’Shannessy, UnAustralia at La Mama
Ben Grant, The Shrink and Swell of Knots at La Mama
Shannon Woollard, Death of a Comedian at La Mama
Xavier Bouvier (Okidok), Slips Inside for Melbourne Festival
Young Jean Lee, We’re Gonna Die for Melbourne Festival
Daniel Crisp (Circa), Wunderacts for Melbourne Festival
Melissa Fergusson, PlaySix
Bridgette Burton, Play Six
Stephen House, Johannes Scherpenhuizen and Sarah Hamilton, 2011 Melbourne Fringe
Jonno Katz and Mel Dodge, 2011 Melbourne Fringe
Timothy Clark, Bron Battern, Ash Flanders and Kate McLennan, 2011 Melbourne Fringe
Miles O'Neil, Miranda Hill, Jennifer Williams and Robert Lloyd, 2011 Melbourne Fringe
Anna Lumb, Dan Kilby, Spencer Gignall and the Wau Wau Sisters, 2011 Melbourne Fringe
26 January 2013
Chat: Matthew Hyde, Theatre Works
MIDSUMMA 2013
What other Midsumma show(s) will you NOT miss?
What was the first festival you were a part of?
What was the last film you loved?
Here Lies Henry
22–19 January
Theatre Works
The Theatre Works Midsumma program started with the sold out Psycho Beach Party and promises to continue being awesome with Sydney Fringe favourite Here Lies Henry.
Henry has an aversion to telling the truth, but actor Matthew Hyde doesn’t mind chatting with AMP.
Describe Here Lies Henry in three words?
Funny, profound, sexy.
Who shouldn’t miss the show?
Anyone who likes challenging, unconventional theatre that throws out the rule book. Anyone who just wants to play, be entertained, laugh, cry, think, feel, question and ultimately celebrate the sheer act of living in the here and now.
What other Midsumma show(s) will you NOT miss?
I’ve heard Here Lies Henry is simply not to be missed, other than that I would like to check out Gaybies, Bent Burlesque and The Prince’s Quest – An Adult Performance sounds a lot of fun.
Midsumma is 25 this year. What do you remember most about being 25?
Deciding to pack up my bags, kiss London and my native UK goodbye and move to the Emerald City.
Midsumma is also about celebrating queer culture. What does your show celebrate?
It celebrates us as human beings in all our wonderful complexity as well as love in all its beauty and pain.
As Henry is a liar, what’s something you’ve lied about?
My age.
What’s something you should never lie about?
Telling a casting director “of course I can do that accent!” in order to get an audition.
Apart from the Midsumma, what festival would you love to be a part of?
The Edinburgh Festival; it’s massive!
What was the first festival you were a part of?
A dance festival aged eight. I had a tap solo, a ballet solo and was in two group numbers.
What else are you looking forward to doing on your trip to Melbourne?
Hanging out with my mate Indi whose house I will be gate crashing, catching up with Melbourne friends, drinking coffee in the hidden alleyways, seeing theatre and visiting the rooftop bars.
If you could invite anyone to see your show (and you know they would come), who would it be?
My family in the UK. It’s a bit too far for them to come, which is a shame as I’m so proud of the show.
What is the best theatre advice you’ve received?
“Grab it by the balls darling and act the shit out of it” and “Find the truth and play it from the heart.”
What’s the worst and/or best thing a reviewer has said about you or your show?
I haven’t had anything really bad said about me (yet), In his review o Henry, Jason Blake from the SMH said,“If there is a harder working actor in Sydney at the moment then I haven’t seen him’. I felt this was testament to the blood, sweat and tears of the rehearsal room.
What’s your favourite gelati flavour?
Lemon.
What was the last film you loved?
The Iranian film called A Seperation.
What’s the best thing to do when it’s over 40° and you don’t have air conditioning?
Absolutely head to the beach and soak it up.
What work changed how you make theatre? Why?
Without doubt have to be this show Here Lies Henry. To stand in a spotlight with nothing but the text, your body and your imagination is a whole new skill set. It took me right out of my comfort zone in every possible sense, but I learnt to not be afraid and be excited by it.
What director/actor/writer/creator would you just die to work with?
A Shakespeare play with Judi Dench as a cast member and Michael Grandage directing.
What do love most about your show?
Not knowing what’s going to happen each night, the audience is literally the other character and what they do very much dictates what Henry does. It’s scary as all hell but oh so exciting!
Chat: Genevieve Giuffre, Theatre Works
MIDSUMMA 2013
Melbourne’s Midsumma festival has been celebrating queer culture for 25 years and officially runs from 13 January to 3 February. Theatre Works started with Psycho Beach Party.
When people in the town are attacked in strange sado-masochistic ways, it is up to the surf-bums and a B-Grade Horror star to find the culprit and save a Gidget-esque nerd with a dream to surf from her potentially lethal sexual awakening.
Directed by sex.blood.violence.gore’s Stephen Nicolazzo, its recent Bondi season blew Sydney away and the short Melbourne season is selling so well that you shouldn’t wait. Anne-Marie Peard chats with Genevieve Giuffre (sex.blood.violence.gore, Summertime in the Garden of Eden) about awesome stuff like leopard print, taking risks and gelati.
Describe your show in three words?
Sex on drugs OR Oceanic leopard cult.
Who shouldn’t miss your show
Lovers of the words above.
Will anyone hate it?
Not even the jealous people will be able to hate on it.
What other Midsumma show(s) will you NOT miss?
Here lies Henry – they bump in after us, and what’s this I see…Vieux Carre Tennessee, yes I will!
Midsumma is 25 this year. What’s your toast?
Happy Birthday Midsumma, bless your heart! Year of the Dragon.
Midsumma is also about celebrating queer culture. What does your show celebrate?
Individualism in the form of leopard print and sexual expression. Jungle fever. Oh and insanity.
What films did you have to watch to prepare for Psycho Beach Party?
I watched a lot of Friday night lights proceeding this show, it definitely ignited my already blazing sense of team spirit. No really! I revisited some Gidget and took a sneak peak at Beach Blanket Bingo, I just couldn’t go past that title.
Would you swim at St Kilda beach?
Before and after every show I will swim in god’s pool.
Apart from the Midsumma, what festival would you love to be a part of?
CMA Nashville.
What was the first festival you were a part of?
Book week at school.
How would you convince a north-sider to cross the river to St Kilda?
I’d say it’s okay, you can bring your flask just hop on the 112 or 96 and come get sexy
If you could invite anyone to see your show (and you know they would come), who would it be?
Well my truest answer would be Dan Wylie, but he already came to opening night of the Sydney season! Dreams really do come true!
What is the best theatre advice you’ve received?
Take the big risks. It’s more fun.
What’s the worst and/or best thing a reviewer has said about you or your show?
A reviewer referred to my character, Berdine, as having a cleft palate. I don’t actually have one so that’s pretty cool I think. It’s subjective. It’s all subjective.
What’s your favourite gelati flavour?
Peppermint mixed with a scoop of rainbow.
What was the last film you loved?
The last film I loved was in fact the first film I loved, Cry Baby. ‘Hey Mr Jailer’, so much joy!
What’s the best thing to do when it’s over 40° and you don’t have air conditioning?
Get the gang together, dine in at McDonald’s Acland Street and book a group ticket for Psycho Beach Party at Theatre Works.
What work changed how you make theatre? Why?
Star Wars exists. All things imagined are real in the theatre. Fantasy has its place.
What director/actor/writer/creator would you just die to work with?
I would want to make country music with Ryan Adams, a film with David Lynch and take pictures with Terry Richardson.
What do love most about your show?
The cast. The PBP cult are the most fun people in Straya right now!
Psycho Beach Party
11–19 January
Theatre Works
Melbourne’s Midsumma festival has been celebrating queer culture for 25 years and officially runs from 13 January to 3 February. Theatre Works started with Psycho Beach Party.
When people in the town are attacked in strange sado-masochistic ways, it is up to the surf-bums and a B-Grade Horror star to find the culprit and save a Gidget-esque nerd with a dream to surf from her potentially lethal sexual awakening.
Directed by sex.blood.violence.gore’s Stephen Nicolazzo, its recent Bondi season blew Sydney away and the short Melbourne season is selling so well that you shouldn’t wait. Anne-Marie Peard chats with Genevieve Giuffre (sex.blood.violence.gore, Summertime in the Garden of Eden) about awesome stuff like leopard print, taking risks and gelati.
Describe your show in three words?
Sex on drugs OR Oceanic leopard cult.
Who shouldn’t miss your show
Lovers of the words above.
Will anyone hate it?
Not even the jealous people will be able to hate on it.
What other Midsumma show(s) will you NOT miss?
Here lies Henry – they bump in after us, and what’s this I see…Vieux Carre Tennessee, yes I will!
Midsumma is 25 this year. What’s your toast?
Happy Birthday Midsumma, bless your heart! Year of the Dragon.
Midsumma is also about celebrating queer culture. What does your show celebrate?
Individualism in the form of leopard print and sexual expression. Jungle fever. Oh and insanity.
What films did you have to watch to prepare for Psycho Beach Party?
I watched a lot of Friday night lights proceeding this show, it definitely ignited my already blazing sense of team spirit. No really! I revisited some Gidget and took a sneak peak at Beach Blanket Bingo, I just couldn’t go past that title.
Would you swim at St Kilda beach?
Before and after every show I will swim in god’s pool.
Apart from the Midsumma, what festival would you love to be a part of?
CMA Nashville.
What was the first festival you were a part of?
Book week at school.
How would you convince a north-sider to cross the river to St Kilda?
I’d say it’s okay, you can bring your flask just hop on the 112 or 96 and come get sexy
If you could invite anyone to see your show (and you know they would come), who would it be?
Well my truest answer would be Dan Wylie, but he already came to opening night of the Sydney season! Dreams really do come true!
What is the best theatre advice you’ve received?
Take the big risks. It’s more fun.
What’s the worst and/or best thing a reviewer has said about you or your show?
A reviewer referred to my character, Berdine, as having a cleft palate. I don’t actually have one so that’s pretty cool I think. It’s subjective. It’s all subjective.
What’s your favourite gelati flavour?
Peppermint mixed with a scoop of rainbow.
What was the last film you loved?
The last film I loved was in fact the first film I loved, Cry Baby. ‘Hey Mr Jailer’, so much joy!
What’s the best thing to do when it’s over 40° and you don’t have air conditioning?
Get the gang together, dine in at McDonald’s Acland Street and book a group ticket for Psycho Beach Party at Theatre Works.
What work changed how you make theatre? Why?
Star Wars exists. All things imagined are real in the theatre. Fantasy has its place.
What director/actor/writer/creator would you just die to work with?
I would want to make country music with Ryan Adams, a film with David Lynch and take pictures with Terry Richardson.
What do love most about your show?
The cast. The PBP cult are the most fun people in Straya right now!
Originally on AussieTheatre.com
25 January 2013
#criticsongs
"But will you quote me tomorrow?"
If you want to see how critics spend their Friday afternoons or want to stalk us, head to Twitter and search #criticsongs.
If you want to see how critics spend their Friday afternoons or want to stalk us, head to Twitter and search #criticsongs.
All-a-twitter over Midsumma's Henry
Here Lies Henry at Theatre Works is about a liar and #Midsumma is a all-a-twitter because reviewers don't agree and never lie.
The Midsumma festival celebrates that we all see the world differently and that it's ok to be exactly who you are, unless you're a theatre critic who doesn't explode a glitter bomb of quotables for every show.
I love reading a review that is so different from my own that I wonder if we saw the same show, and embrace such a diversity of opinion because if we all agreed, I can assure you that the only thing that show would be is BORING.
In The Age, Cameron Woodhead wasn't so keen.
"Much of the gay stuff feels grafted on, gratuitous. The stereotype isn't playfully explored. Mainstream gay male culture comes across as superficial and boring and the shallowness represented lacks complexity and affective range - and, therefore, anything in the way of effective critique."
That makes me want to read more and find out why he didn't like it. He tells us. A good review doesn't mean praise.
"You don't have to believe someone to enjoy their tales ..."
Reviewers are writers. Writers tell stories.
I read other reviews to see a show from eyes other than my own. I know what I think. I want to know what goes on inside other people's heads.
PS: "Cameron hated it" will get more people along to see Here Lies Henry than "A-M liked it".
The Midsumma festival celebrates that we all see the world differently and that it's ok to be exactly who you are, unless you're a theatre critic who doesn't explode a glitter bomb of quotables for every show.
I love reading a review that is so different from my own that I wonder if we saw the same show, and embrace such a diversity of opinion because if we all agreed, I can assure you that the only thing that show would be is BORING.
Matt Hyde in front of his poster. Pic nicked from @Theatre_Works
On Arts Hub, Nicole Eckersly liked the Henry.
"... an epic monologue, veering like a Mad Mouse between endearing, witty, existential, awkward, hilarious, black, insightful, and, more often than not, several of the above simultaneously."
In The Age, Cameron Woodhead wasn't so keen.
"Much of the gay stuff feels grafted on, gratuitous. The stereotype isn't playfully explored. Mainstream gay male culture comes across as superficial and boring and the shallowness represented lacks complexity and affective range - and, therefore, anything in the way of effective critique."
That makes me want to read more and find out why he didn't like it. He tells us. A good review doesn't mean praise.
I was somewhere in between.
"You don't have to believe someone to enjoy their tales, but reviewers never lie, so don't be scared to get to Here Lies Henry before it ends on Sunday. It's intense and mad and will leave you wondering."
"You don't have to believe someone to enjoy their tales ..."
Reviewers are writers. Writers tell stories.
I read other reviews to see a show from eyes other than my own. I know what I think. I want to know what goes on inside other people's heads.
PS: "Cameron hated it" will get more people along to see Here Lies Henry than "A-M liked it".
Review: Here Lies Henry
MIDSUMMA 2013
Here Lies Henry
TurnAround Productions, Theatre Works
22 January 2013
Theatre Works
to 27 January
theatreworks.org.au
Actor Matthew Hyde said that some of the best acting advice he's had is: “Grab it by the balls darling and act the shit out of it” – and he sure does so in Here Lies Henry, the second show in the Theatre Works Midsumma season.
Here Lies Henry by Canadian writer Daniel MacIvor was first produced in 1995 and first seen in Australia at the 2012 Sydney Fringe, the same production that's here for Midsumma.
It's a solo work about a guy maybe called Henry. He wonders what happened to Nigel Kennedy, likes Lady Ga Ga and he lies, possibly because he fears that the truth will leave him naked or because he knows how great pathological liars are at parties.
He really wants to tell us something we don't know, but that's not easy, especially when he's caught up in his past and his own truth – and we know he tells porkies, so never know when to believe him.
This isn't a linear plot that's easy to follow. It's not hard to follow either and is best enjoyed by jumping on and going with the ride that twists and tumbles and leaves us not knowing which way is up.
And Matthew Hyde's a delight who leaves everyone understanding why pathological liars usually have an abundance of friends: they are fun to be around and you never know what they are going to do next, even if don't trust them to tell the time. There's room for more light and shade in his charismatic performance; his grab it by the balls approach gets attention but makes it easy to focus on the performer rather than the character and his story.
You don't have to believe someone to enjoy their tales, but reviewers never lie, so don't be scared to get to Here Lies Henry before it ends on Sunday. It's intense and mad and will leave you wondering.
A chat with Matthew on AT
This was on AussieTheatre.
Here Lies Henry
TurnAround Productions, Theatre Works
22 January 2013
Theatre Works
to 27 January
theatreworks.org.au
Actor Matthew Hyde said that some of the best acting advice he's had is: “Grab it by the balls darling and act the shit out of it” – and he sure does so in Here Lies Henry, the second show in the Theatre Works Midsumma season.
Here Lies Henry by Canadian writer Daniel MacIvor was first produced in 1995 and first seen in Australia at the 2012 Sydney Fringe, the same production that's here for Midsumma.
It's a solo work about a guy maybe called Henry. He wonders what happened to Nigel Kennedy, likes Lady Ga Ga and he lies, possibly because he fears that the truth will leave him naked or because he knows how great pathological liars are at parties.
He really wants to tell us something we don't know, but that's not easy, especially when he's caught up in his past and his own truth – and we know he tells porkies, so never know when to believe him.
This isn't a linear plot that's easy to follow. It's not hard to follow either and is best enjoyed by jumping on and going with the ride that twists and tumbles and leaves us not knowing which way is up.
And Matthew Hyde's a delight who leaves everyone understanding why pathological liars usually have an abundance of friends: they are fun to be around and you never know what they are going to do next, even if don't trust them to tell the time. There's room for more light and shade in his charismatic performance; his grab it by the balls approach gets attention but makes it easy to focus on the performer rather than the character and his story.
You don't have to believe someone to enjoy their tales, but reviewers never lie, so don't be scared to get to Here Lies Henry before it ends on Sunday. It's intense and mad and will leave you wondering.
A chat with Matthew on AT
This was on AussieTheatre.
Review: Vieux Carré
MIDSUMMA 2013
Vieux Carré
ITCH Productions
20 January 2013
fortyfivedownstairs
to 3 February
midsumma.org.au
Vieux Carré is one of Tennesse Williams lesser-known plays. It opened on Broadway on 30 April 1977, closed on 15 May and didn't add to the playwright's collection of Pulitzer Prizes for Drama (two) or New York Drama Critic's Circle prizes for Best American Play (four). ITCH's Midsumma production is already selling out houses and running longer than its premiere production, but it's showing why it wasn't a hit.
Set in the New Orleans French Quarter (Vieux Carré) in the late 30s, it's an autobiographical work about a young gay writer who moves into a not-so-classy boarding house filled with Williams's familiar broken characters who are mentally or physically ill, fragile, bullied or bullies, and desperately lonely.
The striking design, Alexandra Hiller (set) and John Dutton (lights), fills the spacious fortyfivedownstairs and readily evokes the steamy hot decay of the New Orleans from a Williams play. And, as director Alice Bishop recently went to the city in search of Tennesse's ghost, it is perhaps as close as we can get to the French Quarter. (But anyone stuck on the side seats should at least get a couple of free drinks because their view is so obstructed.)
The writer at the centre of the play acts as narrator and writes about his interactions with his boarding house neighbours and landlady. By themselves, most of the multiple stories could stand by alone, but told together they don't create a greater a whole, and it feels more like an exploration of character rather than a complex story. Which is all great, especially as the each performer brings something unique and watchable, but for all its beauty, atmosphere and good performances, there's a mix of styles on the stage, which highlights the loose structure of the script by separating the stories and characters.
Vieux Carré isn't one of Tennesse Williams's well-known plays because it doesn't compare to his great ones. It takes a lot to overcome a not-there script. ITCH have a lot of terrific people, so I'd really like to see this company and cast tackle one of his great ones, because this one isn't showing how good they can be.
This was on AussieTheatre.com
Photo by Justin Kane
Vieux Carré
ITCH Productions
20 January 2013
fortyfivedownstairs
to 3 February
midsumma.org.au
Vieux Carré is one of Tennesse Williams lesser-known plays. It opened on Broadway on 30 April 1977, closed on 15 May and didn't add to the playwright's collection of Pulitzer Prizes for Drama (two) or New York Drama Critic's Circle prizes for Best American Play (four). ITCH's Midsumma production is already selling out houses and running longer than its premiere production, but it's showing why it wasn't a hit.
Set in the New Orleans French Quarter (Vieux Carré) in the late 30s, it's an autobiographical work about a young gay writer who moves into a not-so-classy boarding house filled with Williams's familiar broken characters who are mentally or physically ill, fragile, bullied or bullies, and desperately lonely.
The striking design, Alexandra Hiller (set) and John Dutton (lights), fills the spacious fortyfivedownstairs and readily evokes the steamy hot decay of the New Orleans from a Williams play. And, as director Alice Bishop recently went to the city in search of Tennesse's ghost, it is perhaps as close as we can get to the French Quarter. (But anyone stuck on the side seats should at least get a couple of free drinks because their view is so obstructed.)
The writer at the centre of the play acts as narrator and writes about his interactions with his boarding house neighbours and landlady. By themselves, most of the multiple stories could stand by alone, but told together they don't create a greater a whole, and it feels more like an exploration of character rather than a complex story. Which is all great, especially as the each performer brings something unique and watchable, but for all its beauty, atmosphere and good performances, there's a mix of styles on the stage, which highlights the loose structure of the script by separating the stories and characters.
Vieux Carré isn't one of Tennesse Williams's well-known plays because it doesn't compare to his great ones. It takes a lot to overcome a not-there script. ITCH have a lot of terrific people, so I'd really like to see this company and cast tackle one of his great ones, because this one isn't showing how good they can be.
This was on AussieTheatre.com
Photo by Justin Kane
23 January 2013
Woodhead on Wilson
There's a terrific interview with Robert Wilson in The Age today by Cameron Woodhead. Here.
Melbourne's been lucky to see Wilson's The Temptation of St Anthony (MIAF 07) and I La Galigo (MIAF 06), but the Perth Festival gets Threepenny Opera.
In the meantime, I'm trying to find a way to get to Perth to and have already done a happy dance knowing Einstein on the Beach is here in July.
Review: Ovo
Ovo
Cirque Du Soleil
17 January 2013
The Grand Chapiteau at Docklands
to 24 March
cirquedusoleil.com
The last time Cirque Du Soleil was in town, Saltimbanco was performed in a so-wrong sports arena, so it's wonderful to have Ovo back in the relative intimacy of the purpose-built tent town of the Grand Chapiteau – even if it is in the weird concrete emptiness of Docklands.
In 2013, 15 million people will see one of the 20 different Cirque Du Soleil shows performing around the world. To date, over 100 million people have seen one of their shows. That's not bad for a company that started in Quebec in 1984 with a group of 20 street performers who wanted to create imaginative, emotion-provoking circus with live music and no animals that could travel the world.
Ovo shrinks us down to see a community of insects who want to protect, eat or cherish an egg, whatever it holds. With incredible costumes (Liz Vandal) and make up (Julie Begin) that start with the intricate beauty of a bug, turn up the colour and pattern to human-size and make it even more gorgeous, it may convince non-bug lovers and even arachnophobes that critters with six or more legs are cool and not to be squished.
With a troupe of the bendiest, fittest, strongest, fearless performers from around the world, the tricks and routines are they-did-NOT-just-do-that jaw-dropping and, like the design, always taken to a level that's rarely surpassed.
My favourites were the dragonfly's hand balance (Volodymyr Hrynchenko), the firefly's amazing diablo (Tony Frebourg) and the spider on a slackwire (Ailato Julaiti). And each act ends with enough OMG moments to satisfy the most jaded. Act one ends with a team of 11 flying scarabs (Artem Burnukin, Alexander Grol, Nina Kartseva, Roman Khayrullin, Konstantin Kolbin, Maxim Komlev, Aleksandr Mischenko, Evgeny Mitin, Andrey Shapin, Valeri Tomanov, Sarfabek Zardakov) – which a good chunk of the audience get to watch from below the net – and act two with a tramp-o wall of 11 gravity-defying crickets (Michel Boillet, Lee Brearley, Kasper Falkesgaard, Shaun Gregory, Laura Houson, Yahia Icheboudene, Roman Karpovich, Sébastien Laifa, Karl L’ecuyer, Ludovic Martin, Gary Smith).
Any Cirque Du Soleil show is as spectacular and slick as a performance can be. But is there anything duller than perfection?
Its no-possibility-of-mistakes or hint of individuality leaves it feeling souless. The performers are magnificent, but it feels like they could do the show in their sleep. Cirque has become a brand that doesn't deviate and, like ordering at any Evil Ms around the world, you know exactly what you're going to get. I saw Saltimbanco the first time Cirque came to Australia in the 90s and was blown away by a show that oozed so much love, originality and wow. But it feels like the bigger they get, the harder it is to connect to those millions of people who want to experience something incredible.
Now, I have to rant about merchandise. I know that merchandise makes money and companies need money to pay staff and artists and bring shows to the other side of the world, but to have so much lovely stuff at small-person eye level has got to make anyone taking children bonkers. The tickets to see this show are by no means cheap, but throw in snacks, a $30 program and a $39 toy frog (which was so damn cute that if they were $20, I would have bought some for presents and kept one for myself), I have no idea how families can enjoy Ovo. If your choice is a month's rent/mortgage payment or take the family to the circus, it's no wonder that the answer is a DVD and popcorn made in the microwave. I'm not saying don't sell the stuff, but can it be slightly less tempting so that buying is a choice rather than something driven by guilt or nagging?
This was on AussieTheatre.com
Photos by Benoit Fontaine
Cirque Du Soleil
17 January 2013
The Grand Chapiteau at Docklands
to 24 March
cirquedusoleil.com
The last time Cirque Du Soleil was in town, Saltimbanco was performed in a so-wrong sports arena, so it's wonderful to have Ovo back in the relative intimacy of the purpose-built tent town of the Grand Chapiteau – even if it is in the weird concrete emptiness of Docklands.
In 2013, 15 million people will see one of the 20 different Cirque Du Soleil shows performing around the world. To date, over 100 million people have seen one of their shows. That's not bad for a company that started in Quebec in 1984 with a group of 20 street performers who wanted to create imaginative, emotion-provoking circus with live music and no animals that could travel the world.
Ovo shrinks us down to see a community of insects who want to protect, eat or cherish an egg, whatever it holds. With incredible costumes (Liz Vandal) and make up (Julie Begin) that start with the intricate beauty of a bug, turn up the colour and pattern to human-size and make it even more gorgeous, it may convince non-bug lovers and even arachnophobes that critters with six or more legs are cool and not to be squished.
With a troupe of the bendiest, fittest, strongest, fearless performers from around the world, the tricks and routines are they-did-NOT-just-do-that jaw-dropping and, like the design, always taken to a level that's rarely surpassed.
My favourites were the dragonfly's hand balance (Volodymyr Hrynchenko), the firefly's amazing diablo (Tony Frebourg) and the spider on a slackwire (Ailato Julaiti). And each act ends with enough OMG moments to satisfy the most jaded. Act one ends with a team of 11 flying scarabs (Artem Burnukin, Alexander Grol, Nina Kartseva, Roman Khayrullin, Konstantin Kolbin, Maxim Komlev, Aleksandr Mischenko, Evgeny Mitin, Andrey Shapin, Valeri Tomanov, Sarfabek Zardakov) – which a good chunk of the audience get to watch from below the net – and act two with a tramp-o wall of 11 gravity-defying crickets (Michel Boillet, Lee Brearley, Kasper Falkesgaard, Shaun Gregory, Laura Houson, Yahia Icheboudene, Roman Karpovich, Sébastien Laifa, Karl L’ecuyer, Ludovic Martin, Gary Smith).
Any Cirque Du Soleil show is as spectacular and slick as a performance can be. But is there anything duller than perfection?
Its no-possibility-of-mistakes or hint of individuality leaves it feeling souless. The performers are magnificent, but it feels like they could do the show in their sleep. Cirque has become a brand that doesn't deviate and, like ordering at any Evil Ms around the world, you know exactly what you're going to get. I saw Saltimbanco the first time Cirque came to Australia in the 90s and was blown away by a show that oozed so much love, originality and wow. But it feels like the bigger they get, the harder it is to connect to those millions of people who want to experience something incredible.
Now, I have to rant about merchandise. I know that merchandise makes money and companies need money to pay staff and artists and bring shows to the other side of the world, but to have so much lovely stuff at small-person eye level has got to make anyone taking children bonkers. The tickets to see this show are by no means cheap, but throw in snacks, a $30 program and a $39 toy frog (which was so damn cute that if they were $20, I would have bought some for presents and kept one for myself), I have no idea how families can enjoy Ovo. If your choice is a month's rent/mortgage payment or take the family to the circus, it's no wonder that the answer is a DVD and popcorn made in the microwave. I'm not saying don't sell the stuff, but can it be slightly less tempting so that buying is a choice rather than something driven by guilt or nagging?
This was on AussieTheatre.com
Photos by Benoit Fontaine
21 January 2013
Review: Oh Suivant
Oh Suivant
Arts Centre Melbourne, Explosive Media
15 January 2013
Fairfax Studio, Arts Centre Melbourne
to 27 January
If you're looking for a terrific show for fussy audiences, Oh Suivant at the Arts Centre won hearts and kept everyone's attention – even the grown ups!
This two-person circus from Belgium melds trick, live music and theatre in a work that's created for little ones, but enchants everyone and refuses to treat children as anything but the most intelligent and discerning audience.
Juggler and balancer extraordinaire Dirk Van Boxelaere and musician Fien Van Herwegan delight with a gentle and gorgeous work that feels like it's from a 1940s circus tent from a world where entertainment was made by live people instead of electronics. There's room for more story in the character and trick, but the characters are so lovely and the tricks so slick that it wasn't a problem.
But it is a show to be enjoyed with children. There were as many small as big people in today's 11 am audience and everyone was having fun (and if only it were ok to ask "Why is the man on the table?" and other questions during non-kid shows). I was with a 7-month-old who bounced and giggled for an hour and a nearly-three-year-old who couldn't tell me what her favourite bit was because she loved it all.
Suivant is a perfect introduction to theatre and promises to create a love of theatre in little hearts and may even re-ignite that love in some of the older ones.
This was on AussieTheatre.com
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